Continuing along
I did complete the patrol today. After the reload, I went the other direction away from the nasty little corvette sub-chaser. And went to some deeper areas in the north of the patrol zone. Then I set up a night-time surface dash to go to the larger area of deeper water in the south of the zone. Which was successful but I found no merchants or convoys in the area before completing the patrol time. I also did not find any merchants or convoys in the next patrol area. Or in the area around it near the southern tip of Formosa. While over near Hong Kong (or Kowloon) finally found a lone merchant heading out in the direction of Manila. Making 9 knots, so difficult to get close to with a Salmon boat. And on the surface he put up a lot of defense with a couple of deck guns plus some AA guns as well. I got a hit on the ship, along with a couple of missed torpedoes because of making desperate shots from close to 3000 yards. The hit didn't do much except take a couple of knots off his speed. After a long underwater chase, I got in closer for a second torpedo hit. and then a third hit. Finally it went down. I got rewarded as it was a large merchant, 11,000 tons. Which triggered one more objective. After that I ran back to Fremantle for much needed refitting and repairs. I had received close to 50% hull damage in a bad decision for a gun battle at one point. A medal and several commendations were received. And I was able to get a 4" deck gun and an SJ radar. The new patrol sends me back to near the Philippines.
Pat
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